Amish: The Way of Life of the Amish in Berne, Indiana
- Author: Brigitte Bachmann-Geiser
- SKU: 2216
- ISBN: 0-89725-850-9
- Our Price:
$37.50
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Description:
Watercolors and drawings by Eugen Bachmann, translated from the German by John Bendix with CD of Amish Hymns and Folksongs, 248 pages, soft cover, 2009.
"I highly recommend the book under review to the reader who wants a colorful description of Amish life."-Steve Stanzak, Journal of Folklore Research
"...this book is full of interesting details and anecdotes which portray the Amish as an itellectual subject as well as a people." - Indiana Magazine of History
"Many books have been written about North American Amish communities, but this one is different..." - The Budget
"Overall, the book contains many interesting, detailed observations." - The Budget
"In many ways, this book is the best available compendium of Adams County Amish folklife. It includes information on a wide variety of customs and traditions, quite a few of which are peculiar to this settlement. The sections on games and entertainment, childhood and schooling, and traditional feasts are particularly rich with such detail" - Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage
"For those who know little about the Amish, or want a brief introduction, this book will offer much... Perhaps the musicologist and the dialectologist will profit most from this book." - Der Reggeboge
This book is the English translation of Amische. Die Lebensweise der Amischen in Berne, Indiana, which was first published in the German language in 1988 with a second edition in 2003.
The Amish are Anabaptists, whose ancestors adopted the teachings of Jacob Amman, a native of the Swiss village of Erlenbach im Simmental in around 1700. Like all Anabaptists, they reject infant baptism and refuse to carry out military service or to swear oaths. In addition, the Amish dress in a way that is special to their faith, they wash each other's feet after the communion service and they use so-called "avoidance" as a punishment.
Because the devout Amish found themselves in conflict with the general obligation to perform military service in the 19th century, they emigrated to North America. The Old Order Amish do not use cars, electricity or modern machines.
The ancestral way of life of the god-fearing farming folk in the area around Berne, Indiana, keeps alive many of the old customs once practiced in the Canton of Bern in Switzerland.
Anyone wishing to learn more about the Amish way of life will find this to be a very interesting read.
